Process and apparatus for vacuum packaging poultry

ABSTRACT

A process for vacuum packaging poultry in bags of shrinking films in which the eviscerated poultry is placed in the bag, a vacuum is created in the bag and the bag is hermetically sealed, the novel features being that a tube protruding toward the outside is inserted into the body cavity of the poultry, a vacuum is created in the body cavity and the bag by means of a vacuum device equipped with a vacuum mouthpiece, the mouthpiece is withdrawn and the bag sealed, the tube either remaining in the bag or being withdrawn together with the vacuum mouthpiece.

United States Patent Sherwood 1 Feb. 1, 1972 [s41 PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR VACUUM PACKAGING POULTRY [2]] App]. No.: 16,080

Cox ..53/22 B X Walton ..53/l 12 B Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee Altomey.lohn .l. Toney, William D. Lee. Jr. and Edward J. Hanson, Jr.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A process for vacuum packaging poultry in bags of shrinking films in which the eviscerated poultry is placed in the bag, a

[52] US. II .L ..53/22 B, 53/ I I2 B, 206/DlG. l2 vacuum i eat d i the bag and the bag is hermetically l t ..B65b sealed the novel features that a tube protruding toward [58] Flelti of Search ..53/22 B, 112 B; 206/DIG. 12 the outside is inserted into the body cavity of the ma vacuum is created in the body cavity and the bag by means of [56] Reem Clad a vacuum device equipped with a vacuum mouthpiece, the UNITED STATES PATENTS mouthpiece is withdrawn and thebag sealed, the tube either remaining in the bag or being withdrawn together with the 3,51 Kraft ct B vacuum mouthpiece 2,812,628 ll/l957 Russell et al... 3,527,018 9/1970 Jahnke ..53/l 12 B 3Claims,3Drawing Figures VACUUM PA-IENTEDFEB 1:972 3.633.339

SHEU 1 [1F 2 VACUUM FIG. I

INVENTOR:

ATTORNEY PATENTEDFEB H912 3533.339

SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG. 2

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR VACUUM PACKAGING POULTRY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The invention relates to an improved process for vacuum packaging of poultry in bags of plastic films preferably bags of shrinking films. The invention relates in particular to an improved process to create a vacuum in .bags which are filled with eviscerated poultry under a mostly automatic packaging process.

2. Description of the Prior Art Based on steadily rising sales of poultrysuch as chickens, ducks or turkeys, packaging processes are becoming increasingly important. In most instances, poultry is, put on the market ready to cook or roast, i.e., plucked and eviscerated; and, in order to increase its preservation, it is packaged in vacuumtight plastic bags which, after having been vacuumized and sealed, preferably are submitted to a shrinking treatment in a heat tunnel or a hot liquid bath so that the packaging film tightly adheres to the poultry.

Despite many efforts to mechanize the process for. vacuum packaging of poultry and thus to acceleratesame and reduce the cost thereof, a large amount of manual labor is still required. In particular; all endeavors to fully automate the vacuumizing of the poultry-containing bags have so far been unsuccessful. It has been found that the introduction of the mouthpiece of a vacuum device into the neck of the bag will not always give a satisfactory vacuum as the neck of the bag often collapses thus blocking and preventing the drawing of a complete vacuum. Also, the air contained in the cavity of the body of the eviscerated poultry can only be withdrawn slowly. To overcome these difficulties, one prior art vacuum device has been equipped with a retractable mouthpiece which is introduced through the neck of the bag into the body cavity of the poultry and thus permits the creation of a vacuum simultaneously in the bag and the poultry. Thisprior art vacuum device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,590 issued on Mar. 30, 1965 to K. E. Belknap.

The above-described device actually solves the problem of establishing a vacuum both completely and as rapidly as possible. However, it .is not suited for an automatic packaging process as it is practically impossible to align the poultry-filled bag below the vacuum device with the vacuum mouthpiece so that the latter can directly extend intothe body cavity through the open slit in the body of the bird. Rather, it is necessary to manually adjust the poultry-filled bag to the vacuum mouthpiece in each instance.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is an apparatus and a process which provides rapid and complete establishment of a vacuum in the poultry and the bag and allows automatic packaging. In the process, a tube protruding toward the outside is placed inside the body cavity of the poultry, a vacuum is created in the body cavity and the bag, the mouthpiece of the vacuum device is withdrawn and the bag sealed, the tube either remaining in the poultry and in the bag or being withdrawn together with the vacuum mouthpiece.

Preferably, the tube is introduced into the poultry together with the edible, separately packaged entrails. Should the tube be withdrawn with the vacuum mouthpiece, it may be used again.

The tube inserted into the poultry enlarges the diameter of the outlet opening to such an extent that a rapid and complete vacuum can be created without having to introduce the vacuum mouthpiece into the body cavity. Preferably, the tube is formed with a conic endpiece that protrudes out of the poultry and is adjustable to the vacuum mouthpiece. The latter may be either enlarged in the form of a funnel in order to receive the conically narrowing endpiece of the tube; or, the mouthpiece is conically narrowing so that it can be inserted into afunnel-shaped endpiece of a tube. An exact centering of the poultry under the vacuum device is, therefore, not required if the inserted tube points approximately in the direction of the vacuum mouthpiece.

In the event that the tube, which preferably consists of a suitable plastic not subject to physiological changes caused by food, were to be used several times, it must be withdrawn together with the vacuum mouthpiece after the vacuum is created and before the bag is sealed. For this purpose, the endpiece of the tube of the invention is equipped with a shoulder or a notch and a catch or stop for a carrier device at the vacuum mouthpiece. According to the invention, the carrier device consists of arotary lever having two arms and is attached at the vacuum mouthpiece by a pivot or hinge. The carrier device will lock the inserted tube to the mouthpiece when the mouthpiece is lowered into the bag; and, upon raising the mouthpiece, the tube will be released.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following description of the preferred embodiment reference will be made tov the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic side view of the vacuum device with a sectional view of the tube of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of one particular type of the carrier device for the tube; and,

FIG. 3 shows in detail a sectional view of the carrier device of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,590 shows a prior art retractable poultry cavity nozzle for vacuum packaging. The drawings in the present application do notrepeat detailed features which have already been taught by prior art patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,590. However, reference is made to FIGS. 4 and 7 to 10 of said patent as being particularly helpful to the understanding of the present invention.

Referring now to FIG. I of the present application, the vacuum device is in the position required for the creation of a vacuum in the poultry-containing bag. the vacuum mouthpiece 24 being inserted into the bag 6. The funnelshaped part of the vacuum mouthpiece 24 fits over the conic head 42 of the tube 4 while the lowertubular part 40 of the latter penetrates into the body cavity of the poultry. In the position shown, the vacuum device 20, and consequently the vacuum mouthpiece 24, is connected with a vacuum source so that a vacuum can be created simultaneously in the poultry and the bag 6 as can be readily done by one skilled in the art. A shoulder 44 is provided on the lower side of head 42 of tube 4. The rotary lever 26, serving as a carrier device and attached at the funnel-shaped opening of vacuum mouthpiece 24 so as to be rotating, locks and retains the tube 4 in place at shoulder 44. Referring to FIG. 2, the carrier consists of a rotary lever with two arms 23 and 25 of different lengths mounted at the pivot or hinge or rotating point 2I. Due to the greater length of the upper arm 25 and the resulting higher weight, the upper arm 25 is normally in a horizontal position and any downward turning is prevented by a suitable stop or catch. The head 42 of the tube 4 penetrating into the funnel-shaped section of the vacuum mouthpiece 24 moves upper arm 25 upward and thus slides past the same. As soon as shoulder 44 has passed the rotary lever 26, upper arm 25 drops into the position shown in FIG. 2 and prevents withdrawal of tube 4.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the carrier device in greater detail. This view is a section of the funnel-shaped opening of mouthpiece 24 and shows rotary lever 26 mounted by pivot 21 so that the upper arm 25 can rotate in the direction of the arrow towards the recessed space 50 which is formed in the mouthpiece 24. The rotation in the direction of the arrow takes place when the head 42 of the tube 4 is inserted in the mouthpiece 24 as shown in FIG. 2. When the shoulder 44 is inserted past the tip of upper arm 25 then arm 25 will fall or rotate about pivot 21 and this motion will be limited by stop or catch 60. The tube 4 will now be locked in position as shown in FIG. 2.

After creating a vacuum in the poultry-containing bag 6, the mouthpiece 24, as described above, is withdrawn upwardly and the bag sealed. If so desired, the bag may be turned to twist the neck whereupon, e.g., the neck may be closed vacuumtight with a bag clamp; and finally, by cutting the neck above the clamp, be separated from the vacuum device. At the next station of the automatic packaging apparatus, by means of appropriate control, e.g., a cam gear, the vacuum mouthpiece 24 is lifted again slightly in the intermediate tube 22 so that the lower arm 23 of the rotary lever 26 pushes against a releasing protrusion or a cooperating narrowing of tube 22 and is pressed against the vacuum mouthpiece 24. Thus, the upper arm 25 of the rotary lever is rotated against the wall of the vacuum mouthpiece 24 or into the recessed space 50in the wall (See FIG. 3) releasing shoulder 44 of tube 4 so that the latter drops. In this instance the tubes 4 can be collected for reuse or discarded.

For the process of the invention to be successful, it is actually sufficient to insert an appropriate tube into the poultry which thus ensures a sufficient suction cross section. It is therefore not necessary that the end of tube .4 protruding out of the poultry comes in working contact with the vacuum mouthpiece 24 of the vacuum device 2 although this is preferable. Minor changes regarding the alignment of the poultry containing the tube toward the vacuum device can be made by adjusting the conic or funnel-shaped form of the tube and the vacuum mouthpiece. However, a complete and rapid vacuum is also created even if the vacuum mouthpiece 24 does not meet tube 4. In this case, it is not possible to withdraw tube 4 by means of the vacuum mouthpiece 24 from the bird and thus the bag. Actually, the tube may be left inside the packaging to be removed, together with the separately packaged entrails, by the housewife directly before cooking.

The above description of the invention relates to one type in which the vacuum mouthpiece 24 is funnel shaped and the head 42 of tube 4 is conically narrowing. However, it is clear that these parts may be formed in the reverse with the tube having a funnel-shaped opening and the mouthpiece having a conical end.

lclaim:

1. In a vacuum packaging process in which eviscerated poultry is placed in a plastic bag, a vacuum created in the bag by means of a vacuum device equipped with a vacuum mouthpiece and the bag hermetically sealed thereafter, the improvement comprising the steps of:

a. inserting a tube into the body cavity of the poultry whereby said tube protrudes towards the outside;

b. creating a vacuum in said body cavity by means of said tube and said vacuum device;

c. withdrawing said vacuum device;

d. preventing removal of said tube from said body cavity;

and,

e. sealing the bag, with the tube remaining within the bag.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said tube is detachably connected to said vacuum mouthpiece and including the step of releasing the tube as the vacuum mouthpiece is withdrawn.

3. In a vacuum device for vacuum packaging eviscerated poultry in plastic bags, the improvement comprising:

a. a retractable vacuum mouthpiece adapted to receive the conically narrowing head of a tube, said mouthpiece being enlarged in the form of a funnel;

b. carrier means for said tube associated with said mouthpiece, said carrier means comprising:

l. a rotary lever pivotally mounted to the vacuum mouthpiece, said lever having:

i. an upper arm extending interiorly of the mouthpiece and ii. a lower arm extending exteriorly of the mouthpiece, the upper arm being of greater weight than the lower arm, and

iii. rotation limiting means which contact said lower arm. 

1. In a vacuum packaging process in which eviscerated poultry is placed in a plastic bag, a vacuum created in the bag by means of a vacuum device equipped with a vacuum mouthpiece and the bag hermetically sealed thereafter, the improvement comprising the steps of: a. inserting a tube into the body cavity of the poultry whereby said tube protrudes towards the outside; b. creating a vacuum in said body cavity by means of said tube and said vacuum device; c. withdrawing said vacuum device; d. preventing removal of said tube from Said body cavity; and, e. sealing the bag, with the tube remaining within the bag.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said tube is detachably connected to said vacuum mouthpiece and including the step of releasing the tube as the vacuum mouthpiece is withdrawn.
 3. In a vacuum device for vacuum packaging eviscerated poultry in plastic bags, the improvement comprising: a. a retractable vacuum mouthpiece adapted to receive the conically narrowing head of a tube, said mouthpiece being enlarged in the form of a funnel; b. carrier means for said tube associated with said mouthpiece, said carrier means comprising: 